06/09/2007

Six year-old Stefek (Damian Ul) and his sister Elka (Ewelina Walendziak) try to bribe fate with small offerings and “tricks” in Tricks (Sztuczki) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrzej Jakimowski
interview: Tomasz Gąssowski
film profile] by Andrzej Jakimowski, who also wrote the film’s screenplay. The boy is especially inspired to guide destiny when he sees a man he is convinced is the father who abandoned their family years ago.

Mixing fairy tale and neorealism elements for a final result that is somewhat rough yet poetic, the director said about his third feature: “I like to make simple stories and my aim is to create a balance between reality and tricks that cannot be real. In a way this story is about me – I am a simple man and I have to fight and play with fate when making a film.”

As many pointed out during the Q&A after the official screening, the film harkens back to a bygone Polish cinema that follows in the footsteps of Krzysztof Kieslowski. Nevertheless, Jakimowski is quick to state that “traditionally Polish films are not perceived as having humor, whereas mine do. However, it is also very important for me that my films are serene because I’m always looking to make films of a cinema has disappeared, that is no longer being made.” It is no coincidence then that the film was most appreciated for its straightforward lyricism.

As is his custom, the director used a number of non-professional actors and auditioned 400 boys before choosing Ul just days before shooting began. Carrying the entire film on his shoulders, the 10 year-old debut actor gives an effortless performance of innocence and determination and says he considered the shoot more of a game than work, and especially liked “the women and cars” in the film.

According to Tomasz Sapryk, the actor who plays the man that may or may not be the father in question: “I was amazed by the film’s simplicity. Working with Andrzej was not at all typical, and I can assure you he used no commercial tricks whatsoever when shooting the film.”

Tricks was produced on a €1m budget by the director for Zjednoczenie Artstow i Rzemiesknikow, in cooperation with Wytwornia Filmow Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych, Telewizija Polska, Canal + Cyfrowy and Opus Film, and with support from the Polish Film Institute.

It is being handled internationally by ZAiR and will distributed in Poland by Kino Swiat at the end of October.